This book is in the collections of the Hoover Institution and the East Asian Library of Stanford University. It is a collection of artworks and memoir excerpts by an extraordinary Chinese man who belonged to the Chinese equivalent of America's Greatest Generation. It contains first-hand information on crucial events of modern Chinese history such as World War II and the Chinese Civil War, therefore worthy of attention from historians and scholars in East Asian Studies. For the sake of authenticity, the original Chinese text will be presented above its English translation by the author's granddaughter paragraph by paragraph.With vivid details, the book paints a word's picture of a bygone era when Chinese people were born in their ancestral homes, lived off the land they either owned or farmed, and knew they would be buried in their ancestral cemeteries. During the collapse of the millennia-old norm that once gave the entire Chinese race a sense of security, the author of this book was forced into exile. Nostalgia inevitably became his destiny and makes his memoirs comparable to Marcel Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past," also known as "In Search of Lost Time." Those who love Marcel Proust will find this book equally lyrical. It's certainly a must-read for everyone interested in Asian art, Chinese history, exotic cuisine, garden design, and world literature.